To Tea Party Republicans Threatening Government Shutdown: America Does Not Negotiate With Terrorists

The right-wing radicals who have held the GOP hostage for over four years, are now threatening to hold the entire country captive until their demands are met. These “Tea Party” Republicans want further cuts to government spending, but their biggest demand is full repeal of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). They know repeal will not happen under normal circumstances, so they must create the grim conditions necessary for Democrats and President Obama to crack under the pressure. In other words, they must terrorize the nation. These extremist fanatics bathe in American patriotism and wave their flags, but until they get what they want, American democracy can go fuck itself. Yeah, I got your compromise right here.

Shutdown Report: How to Play Chicken and Lose: “There are only about 25 contestable House seats thanks to gerrymandering. But if Democrats can pick up most of these, they can take back the House. It would take something big for that to happen, but shutting down the government and playing chicken with a debt default—that’s big.

It is said that most Tea Party Republicans don’t mind suicidal legislative politics because their own seats are safe. On the other hand, they don’t want to wake up in January 2015 as part of the House minority.”

If you need further proof of the damage being done to our republic by obstructionism and gerrymandering, these renegade insurgents are giving you all the evidence you would ever need. Gerrymandering has given these militant Tea Party insurrectionists latitude to do the opposite of governing. They are the new anti-governing contingent of congress, and they come to Washington D.C. with their wrecking ball in tow, ready to level everything in sight.

But there’s a few problems, as is typically the case with any conservative plan. While Obamacare remains unpopular, it’s more popular than Republicans in congress. And polls show that Republicans will be blamed for a government shut down, just as they were in the mid-90s. And while Obama has backed down in the past, this time Republicans are demanding something the president is not willing to give up, the Affordable Care Act. Republicans will lose this battle, and quite possibly pay the electoral consequences in 2014.

Ordinarily, Obama might offer other cuts in order to prevent a shutdown, but other cuts won’t do it this time; the Tea Party wants the scalp of ObamaCare. So a president who is ordinarily reluctant to hang tough may well let the Republicans shut down the government—and let them bear the responsibility. It worked for Bill Clinton in 1996 when Gingrich shut down the government and his Republicans took the fall.

Of course we don’t want a government shutdown, but we also need to stand by the old mantra — America does not negotiate with terrorists.